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Rick Ball Bests Own World Record For Single-Leg Marathon Time

Jun 3, 2010, 7:15 PM UTC

Even with the benefit of both legs, my best marathon time is three hours and 49 minutes. I had felt that that was a halfway respectable time until I saw that on Sunday 44-year-old Canadian Rick Ball finished the Ottawa Marathon with a time of 2:57:47. Is it remarkable to be so thoroughly bested by a middle-aged guy? Not exactly. That happens all the time. But by one who only has one leg? That’s pretty remarkable.â†µ

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â†µâ†µBall’s time in Ottawa set a new world record for a single-leg amputee. Ball, of course, held the previous world record in that category, with a time of 3:01:50 at the Boston Marathon in 2009. He also holds the record at the 10K level as well. Suffice it to say, he’s pretty much racing himself at this point.â†µ

â†µâ†µBall expressed his elation over the accomplishment in an e-mail to Runner’s World Daily.â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥Ibroke myown world record and made history by being the first single leg amputee to break the 3-hour mark, finishingwith a time of 2:57:47.WhenI finished I said to all of the press jokingly, “Whoever said running under 3 hours was easy well, I can tell you, it isn’t.” Ithen asked them where my wife was, as she promised me a world-record hug. â†µâ‡¥â†µâ‡¥I knew it was meant to be when this guy came running up to me at about the 5-K mark puffing away, out of breath, andshowed me his tattoo ofTerry Fox on his arm. He was so proud of his hero (and mine). Then he wished me good luck and was gone. Iknew I was running too fasta pace for him but he wantedto chat if evenfor just a moment.â†µâ‡¥

â†µâ†µâ†µTerry Fox, of course, was a Canadian runner who ran across most of Canada with a single leg and is considered a national hero and an icon among disabled athletes. While Ball may never quite reach that height of adulation, he’s assumed the mantle most admirably.â†µ

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This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.

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